Role-playing Game Origins of the Malazan Series
The core foundations for the Malazan novels of Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont were born in the role-playing game sessions they began at Canada's University of Victoria in the 1980s. The two were flatmates while attending the college's creative writing program and shared similar interests in history, archaeology, and anthropology. They started with Dungeons & Dragons, but soon found the game system "too mechanical and on occasion nonsensical" so they moved on to GURPS (the Generic Universal Roleplaying System), which offered the spontaneous narrative flexibility they were looking for. Although role-playing games tend to be designed with the idea that a single referee guides the actions of multiple players through an adventure scenario, Erikson and Esslemont played one-on-one sessions with each alternating as referee and player.Erikson Q & A - Part 6 - YouTube (link no longer works - video made private)Hello Reddit, I am Steven Erikson. Please Ask Me Anything - Reddit (2012) Erikson says he ran a "very narrative, dialogue-heavy, often action-less style of game" that forced characters into moral quandries.Ask Steven Erikson Your Crippled God Questions - Tor.com (5 November 2014) The early Malazan games ran for three to four years and largely covered the backstory of the foundation of the Malazan Empire. Many members of the Malazan Old Guard were game characters created with characteristics and roles delineated by the gaming rules. Erikson says, "This all became the grounding of the fictional world we then created, and those who have gamed will see the basic gaming elements at work in our tales. To be specific: the Malazan Empire was founded in a tavern called Smiley's in an island city: its core of players were a balanced party of sorcerers, fighters, assassins, thieves and priests." The pair integrated their intellectual interests by gaming the deeds of Malazan's 'great people' and examining the effects of their actions on both the conquered and the conquerors. Then they would replay or expand on these events by taking on the roles of the soldiers caught up in the wake of their leaders on both sides of the conflict. In this way they covered the Malazan invasions of Quon Tali, Seven Cities, and Genabackis that led up to the beginning of the first published Malazan novel, Gardens of the Moon, as well as gamed the general events of that book itself.Ian Cameron Esslemont Answers Your Return of the Crimson Guard Questions - Tor.com (15 April 2013)A Conversation with Malazan series authors Steven Erikson and Ian C. Esslemont - Tor.com (29 October 2010)Questions for Steven Erikson on Gardens of the Moon? Start asking! - Tor.com (27 September 2010)The World of the Malazan Empire and Role-Playing Games - steven-erikson.com Gaming went on to form a general timeline for both Erikson and Esslemont's books to be filled in with additional characters and storylines created by each author.Hello Reddit, I am novelist Steven Erikson. Please Ask Me Anything - Reddit (2014) Erikson estimates that perhaps as much as twenty percent of the novels come directly from their original gaming sessions.Hello Reddit, I am Steven Erikson. Please Ask Me Anything - Reddit (2012) Esslemont states that almost all of the books in the series were gamed to at least some degree, although some such as Blood and Bone were derived from "talked-through sketches and events." But the gaming details used in the books "represent only a fraction of all that material". The authors' style of one-on-one gaming is one reason why character duos are so prevalent in the novels (Shadowthrone/Cotillion, Quick Ben/Kalam, et al.)Steven Erikson Answers Your Midnight Tides Questions - Tor.com (9 March 2012) However it was also not uncommon for Erikson or Esslemont to play multiple characters simultaneously. Erikson recalls playing the roles of Rake, Caladan Brood, and T'riss in one series of games. They were also not above departing from game rules when it served the overall story. Esslemont says "we drove the true gamers mad with our blatant disregard for the mechanics of the game. We neither of us cared for what the dice said and preferred instead the unfolding of poetic truth. Excellent, inspired, or entertaining role-playing always won out over the dictates of the rules." Although Erikson has revealed that some key story points were left to chance. "Believe it or not, the clash of two major characters in Toll the Hounds was decided on a single roll of the die. If it had gone the other... well, I shudder to think." Erikson and Esslemont mapped the world collaboratively with Erikson outlining most of the continents. Esslemont says there were times he was handed a "blank continent" which he "then filled out with peoples, cities, civilizations, and such. Usually who was 'running' that game determined who would fill in the map. For example, Steve ran me in north Genabackis and so filled all that out. Then, later, I ran Steve in south Genabackis and filled out all the south." Both men continued gaming even after they were no longer roommates, but career opportunities soon took them to different parts of the world. Erikson continued one-on-one sessions with his friend, Mark Paxton-Macrae, creating the story of Karsa Orlong. He also refereed a more traditional game with five players whose characters formed the basis of Fiddler's squad in the Bonehunters and who helped guide the events of the final books in this part of the series.Steven Erikson Answers Your House of Chains Questions - Tor.com (23 November 2011) Erikson says he no longer games as more recent efforts have shown that gaming "draws from the same sort of creative energy that writing does. And so if I'm writing on a novel, I've got no creative energy for running a game, and if I'm running a game, then the novel suffers."The Grim Tidings Podcast See 13:50 (dead link) Gaming Elements found in the Malazan Novels Below are the characters and events that Erikson and Esslemont have specifically tied to their role-playing sessions in their writings and interviews. It is by no means a complete list. Characters played by Erikson *Anomander Rake -- The first character Erikson ever rolled up and played in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons. Erikson played the character through game after game and "lived and breathed the guy".Anomander Rake and Point of View - stevenerikson.org (7 July 2018) *BauchelainInterview: Malazan Book of the Fallen author Steven Erikson - The Void (13 March 2011)}}In the Dragon's Den: Interview with Steven Erikson Part 2 - The Critical Dragon (21 April 2016) -- Invented along with Korbal Broach for a friend's game. The game was short lived as the friend "found them too scary to deal with." *Caladan Brood *CotillionSteven Erikson Interview - Pat's Fantasy Hotlist (6 April 2011) *DancerIn the Dragon's Den: Interview with Steven Erikson Part 1 - The Critical Dragon (18 April 2016) -- Erikson says Dancer was "the first time I ended up playing the straight-man...to one of Cam's characters Kellanved in a game, and oh, it was good fun." *FiddlerAn Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 19:15 *Iskaral Pust -- Invented for the novels, but later used as a non-player character in the games. *Kalam Mekhar *Korbal Broach (see Bauchelain above) *Kruppe -- One of Erikson's favorite characters to play "especially since he hardly ever did anything." "was a character I rolled up, and on spur of the moment elected to make him... the way he is."Interview: Steven Erikson, Author Of The Malazan Book Of The Fallen Sequence - blogcritics.org (14 April 2011) *Manask -- A "300 pound thief...who instead of picking the lock, walks through the door, physically." *MurillioAn Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 18:20 *Quick Ben *Rallick Nom -- Created by Erikson, but first run in a game as a non-player character by Esslemont. Erikson and other players first encountered Rallick outside the walls of Darujhistan. Rallick was a "serious bad ass...he scared the crap out of us." *T'riss Characters played by Esslemont *BarukHello Reddit, I am Steven Erikson. Please Ask Me Anything - Reddit (2012) *Coll *Greymane *Kellanved *K'azz D'Avore *Osseric -- introduced as a foil for Anomander Rake. *Rhulad Sengar -- Erikson says Rhulad's 'condition' was gamed and that he was crueler to the character in the game than in the novel. *Shadowthrone -- originally named "Dr. Wu", a name based on a Steely Dan song title.Steven Erikson Facebook post 31 January 2018 *Vorcan RadokAn Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 18:44 *Whiskeyjack *WuIn the Dragon's Den: Ian C Esslemont Interview - The Critical Dragon (14 April 2016) -- (see Kellanved above) Characters played by Erikson or Esslemont (but unspecified) *Cartharon Crust *Hedge *Laseen *Mallet *Urko Crust Characters played by Others *BottleAsk Steven Erikson Your Bonehunters Questions! - Tor.com (27 June 2012) *Fiddler's squad of the Bonehunters -- Erikson ran a game with five friends covering the invasion of Letheras and through the events of The Crippled God. (This did not include Corabb and Cuttle). Presumably this included: **Fiddler **Bottle **Koryk **Smiles **Tarr *Karsa Orlong -- Played by Mark Paxton-Macrae in one-on-one gaming sessions with Erikson, who says Paxton-Macrae had no idea at first he was playing a Toblakai.Hello Reddit, I am novelist Steven Erikson. Please Ask Me Anything. - Reddit (2014) House of Chains, where Karsa first appears, is dedicated to his player. Characters played only as Non-player characters *Toc the Younger -- Erikson says he does not "recall if Toc was ever a rolled-up character, more likely he was an NPC." Events from the novels that were gamed *The plot of Gardens of the Moon was largely shaped by gaming: **Erikson says, "the events in the city of Darujhistan leading up to the night of fete were all gamed" with the action broken down into small groups. For example, Kruppe, Coll, Murillio and Rallick formed one group while Whiskeyjack, Mallet, Fiddler, Hedge, Quick Ben, and Kalam formed another. An entire campaign was dedicated to Whiskeyjack and the squad infiltrating Darujhistan.Read for Pixels 2016 Interview See 1:35:50 **Unbeknownst to Erikson, Esslemont based the game grouping of "Coll, Murrilio and Rallick, with Crokus thrown in" on the Three Musketeers. Erikson has also stated that Crokus did not appear in the games, but was invented for the books.An Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 18:24 **The Fete at Lady Simtal's estate -- The affair was fully gamed including Kruppe, his face smeared with pastry, meeting Anomander Rake. **Rallick facing Turban Orr -- An encounter whose resolution depended on a roll of the dice. *The city of Darujhistan was invented and mapped by Esslemont.An Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 18:13 *Anomander Rake's visit to the Isle of the Seguleh and recovery of the Tyrant's mask -- Esslemont says he created the island to take a "cocky" Rake "down a notch or two". Rake "barely escaped with his skin! It was a hilarious night of gaming."Ian Cameron Esslemont Answers Your Orb Sceptre Throne Questions! - Tor.com (3 June 2015) *Erikson played Anomander Rake, Caladan Brood, and the Queen of Dreams in games run by Esslemont in a setting that originally was not "'Malazan' in the sense of what we now call 'Malazan.'" *The creation of the Malazan Empire came from a campaign run by Erikson featuring Esslemont as Kellanved with Dancer played by Erikson. These events had not been depicted in any novel as of 2008. It is unclear if they are the same events depicted in Esslemont's Path to Ascendancy books, but in a 2018 interview, Erikson said the prequel series covered "the stuff we actually gamed so that's a lot of fun for me read. I get to tap in and see what he's up to, and how he remembers things versus how I remember things, and then how these things change for the purposes of fiction."Interview with Steven Erikson - The Fantasy Hive (1 November 2018) *Kellanved and Dancer’s conquest of Seven Cities *Dassem Ultor's Siege of Y'Ghatan --Erikson says "we were doing squad by squad for the assault, building by building engagement, in a kind of Black Hawk Down style (before the film ever came out)." Steven Erikson Facebook post 21 August 2018 See also the Y'Ghatan battle map below. *Malazan conquest of Quon Tali *Blackdog Forest campaign -- Run by Erikson for Esslemont involving the Malazan campaign on Genabackis before the events of Gardens of the Moon. Some of the first maps created by Erikson of the Malazan world featured Blackdog Swamp, Mott, and Mott Wood.The True Gods of Shadow: A Steven Erikson Interview - Jay Tomio (3 June 2008) *Karsa Orlong's story in Book 1 of House of Chains -- Erikson says he dragged his player "through hell" and that later events involving Binadas Sengar on the Silanda were dictated by the "immense frustration" of Karsa's player and surprised even Erikson. Karsa's companions, Bairoth Gild and Delum Thord, were inventions for the novels. In their gaming sessions, the raid on Silver Lake was conducted by Karsa alone.Steven Erikson Facebook post 9 April 2018 In fact, Karsa's player "seriously balked at his first venture down into the civilised lands." Erikson began the game by having Macrae's character approached by his friends announcing that "it's time to go down into the valley and kill children." Without understanding what the term meant to the Teblor, Macrae "went through a horrible existential crisis."An Evening with Steven Erikson by Nerdaí Irish Nerds - See 20:20 *The fate of Lieutenant Ranal in the aftermath the Battle of Raraku and the ambush with Corabb's desert warriors that precipitated it. *Jheck -- Played a central role in gaming events that are now only "ancillary history" per Erikson.Steven Erikson Answers Your Dust of Dreams Questions! - Tor.com (11 June 2014) *The many deaths of Rhulad Sengar -- Erikson said he gamed this scenario to "create a rather unusual sword that upended the seemingly perfect gift it offered" and question "what would it be like to die over and over again?"Hello Reddit, I am Steven Erikson. Please Ask Me Anything - Reddit (2012) *The duel between Anomander Rake and Traveller at DarujhistanAsk Steven Erikson Your Toll the Hounds Questions - Tor.com (see comment 29 section 12) -- This may be the event Erikson referred to when he said, "Believe it or not, the clash of two major characters in TtH was decided on a single roll of the die. If it had gone the other... well, I shudder to think." *The Bonehunter campaigns as experienced by Fiddler and his squad, who were all gamed by individual players. **The siege and escape from Y’Ghatan in The Bonehunters.Steven Erikson Answers Your House of Chains Questions, Part 2 - Tor.com (2 December 2011) **The campaign against Letheras in Reaper's Gale.Steven Erikson Answers Your Reaper’s Gale Questions! - Tor.com (16 November 2012) **The campaign activities in Dust of Dreams and The Crippled God, including the squad's final scene. *The confrontation between Surly, Kellanved, and Dancer in Mock's Hold depicted in Night of Knives. (See Ian Esslemont's account here). Gaming events that have not appeared in the novels (yet) * Kellanved and Dancer's hijinks at Smiley's -- Esslemont remembers "one particular immortal exchange between us (one that has yet to see print) wherein I explained that the paranoid Kellanved, then owner of a bar named Smiley's, was spying and listening in on his employees by drilling holes in the floor of his office over the bar. Later, Steve had Dancer come upstairs, see Kellanved with his ear pressed to a hole and his bum in the air, and promptly kick him across the room."Ian C. Esslemont on Collaboration - Tor.com (2011) Author maps In August 2018, Steven Erikson posted some of his original hand drawn Malazan maps on his Facebook page. File:Malazan World Map by Erikson Early Draft.jpg|Early world map draft by Steven Erikson File:Blackdog Campaign Map by Erikson.jpg|Blackdog Campaign - The first role-played Bridgeburner campaign File:First Siege of Y'Ghatan Map by Erikson.jpg|First Siege of Y'Ghatan Battle Map File:Quon Tali Map by Erikson.jpg|Quon Tali post Empire circa 1325 File:G'danisban Map by Erikson.JPG|G'danisban File:Malaz City Environs by Erikson.jpg|Malaz City Environs An official Malazan RPG? Erikson and Esslemont have discussed making an official Malazan game book to allow fans to play their own adventures in the authors' world. In an April 2016 interview, Erikson mentioned that he and Esslemont had talked about the possibility with Steve Jackson, publisher of the GURPS system in which Malazan was born, and Jackson seemed "amenable" to the idea. Erikson said he could see a GURPS-based game proceeding as a crowd-funded project. The authors' long gestating plans for an "Encyclopedia Malazica" would serve as the foundation for the book. Erikson suggested he and Esslemont would "be happy to write little aspects for atmosphere...conversation, dialogue between characters, that kind of thing", but that the bulk of the organizational and game mechanics work would have to be done by trusted partners. Both authors are currently too busy with writing projects to take on such a project themselves.The Grim Tidings Podcast (dead link) External links *The World of the Malazan Empire and Roleplaying Games by Steven Erikson Notes and references Category:Miscellany Category:Real-world articles